Wings to Soar With
by Brick by Brick by Brick
Summary: I know what you're thinking. That this is going to be a boring, emotional sob-story about a girl that can't deal with her own problems. Well, it's not. This is a story about how I survived life hell, which was not so pretty.
1. Chapter 1: Diety

_Author's Note: Max is completely different and this is a story about if she was not the flock leader (or in the flock-yet) and if she never escaped the school. Also, I kind of changed her looks and last name depending on her background in the story. The story takes place after the flock is captured and is brought back to the school. Max has been there for a majority of her life.  
Also, I just want to upload this to see if I should continue.  
Enjoy!_

**Chapter 1: Deity**

**(Max POV)**

"Dinner, you little brats!"

Ari, an Eraser (or human/lupine hybrid) bellowed out hid daily dinner call. Some of the mutants cringed next to me. I, however, stared defiantly at him. Seeing this, Ari promptly kicked my small dog crate harshly, causing my head to crash into the side of my prison. A small boy with a cowlick gasped across the walkway between our crates. I smiled at him reassuringly, causing all of his companions to look at me.

Their names popped into my mind. The boy that had the cowlick was Gazzy, who was eight or so. The little girl beside him was Angel, his sister, who was about six. Nudge, a dark skinned girl, was twelve, I think. Then there were the older ones. Iggy, a blind fourteen year old male, had reddish-blonde hair. Fang, also fourteen and male, could be described as emo. His longish black hair was flopped over his right eye, and he was as pale as could be. Oh, yeah. Last and least, my name is Makkusu Kurokarasu. **No, I am not a boy despite my first name (which is Maximum in Japanese). **I should also mention that I, unlike any of my neighbors, am not a mutant. In fact, I am barely human. To be exact, I am part angel, demon, a tiny bit of avian, and an even tinier bit of human. I'm talking about .00001% human. Oh, and I'm kind of a carnivore, if that counts for anything.

After feeding everyone else, Ari plopped down a tray of vegetables in front of me. I sighed. Guess I wasn't eating tonight. As I watched the other kids eat, I noticed they all had some form of meat. Anger flared up inside me. Oh, yeah. Did I mention that I have a horribly bad temper? Fang, the black haired one, noticed me staring at his meat, and looked at my tray of greens. He chuckled quietly. I shot dagger eyes at him, but that only fueled his amusement. His chuckle grew to full-on laughter. I rolled my eyes. Now his laughter was hysteric. Iggy gave him a strange glance in his direction.

**(Iggy POV)**

"Fang, are you okay?" I asked hesitantly.

"Never….Better." He managed to choke out in between laughs.

That's it. Fang finally went insane.

"What does she look like?" I whispered to Nudge.

"She has what could be wavy light brown hair, but it's kind of tangled at the moment. I think she is about...five-eight. Right Fang? Anyway, I think she is like us... but I don't know. Angel? Any info?"

"She isn't like us. At all. Only in appearance."

"What is she, then?" I asked hesitantly.

"By her thought patterns, I would say that she is in fact... this might sound strange, but she is part demon, part angel." Angel finished quietly.

I heard Fang make a strange noise. Wow. Even Fang can be surprised.

"I would appreciate it if you did not talk of me as if I were not here." I heard the girl say.

"What's your name?" Gazzy asked her.

There was a pause. "Why should I tell you?"

"If you tell us your name, we'll tell you ours."

"I already know your names." She responded.

"How do you know our names?" Fang asked coldly.

"Well, first of all, you are kind of notorious around here. Second, I have been here long enough that they keep me well informed around here. They also know that I have nowhere to go. Third, your names are engraved on your dog crates."

"Why is your name not on your dog crate?" Gazzy asked.

"Like I said, I've been here awhile. Everybody knows my name here."

"Except us." I heard Fang reply.

"Yeah, well you've been here less than twenty-four hours, bub."

"We escaped here about ten years ago."

"Oh, I know." She said icily, "I remember."

"You were there?" Fang asked incredulously.

"Yes. My crate was across from yours."

"You were the one who wouldn't speak!" He suddenly exclaimed after some thought.

When I could see, I remembered a girl that wouldn't talk, but always had a smile on her face. Except one day. The whitecoats took her in to "test" her. She came back and it looked like they sucked the life right out of her. She showed no emotion at all after that. A week later, I lost my sight, and the next week, we escaped. Without her. Now, apparently she has gained sarcasm.

"If you must know, my name is Maximum Blackraven."

"Are you really a demon-angel thingy?" I heard Gazzy ask.

"Yep. And I'm also two percent avian, but I'm also barely human."

**(Angel POV)**

I knew that we could trust her. Max's thoughts were sad, but safe. Honestly, she is more wary of us than Fang is of Erasers. At least she told us the truth about her name. I guess. Her real name is _Makkusu Kurokarasu_, which is Japanese for Maximum Blackraven. From digging through her memories, I can tell that she has had a bad life. She had twelve brothers, all older than her. Her parents wanted thirteen boys, for whatever reason. The last child, Max, ended up being a female. Seeing this, her parents hated her. She was abused throughout her time out of the school. Her having wings did not help her case at all.

"How long have you been here?" I asked.

"Since I was..." Max paused as if trying to remember. "Five." She finished.

Fang sucked in a breath. He was thinking about how we escaped the same year Max was put here. Sympathetic thoughts were rolling off of him in waves, which was not like him.

"How old are you?" Fang asked.

"About... fourteen or so. My parents never shared my birthday with me."

At this, Nudge gasped. She thought it was incredible that Max had parents. None of us knew if we had parents or if we were test-tube babies. The concept saddened us to no end. At the moment, only I knew the truth about Max's parents. I would definitely tell the flock later.


	2. Chapter 2: Escape

**Chapter 2: Escape**

**(The Next Day)**

**(Max POV)**

A sudden light flooded my eyes. One of the whitecoats had opened the door to our "room."

"Alright, Miss Maxine Blackraven, you are going to be taken to lab three to complete some tests." She said perkily.

"It's Maximum."

"Oops, sorry."

"Are you new?" I asked.

"Why, yes. Why do you ask?"

"Well, none of the whitecoats here are very perky." I replied seriously. This caused some giggles from the "flock," as they call themselves. I smirked.

She frowned, but continued in unlocking my crate. It had about five locks made of titanium. The overly perky whitecoat then took me down many halls I recognized. She finally came to a stop at a door clearly labeled 'Lab 2'. As she opened it, all I noticed was a very generic white. Typical. Why can't test labs be blue or purple? Heck, even rainbow! Anything! Well, except pink. I **hate **pink.

Oh, geez. The sterile fumes were going to my head.

I walked in, and a smiling doctor greeted me. He looked familiar.

"Hello, Maximum." He said seriously, despite his facial expression.

"Sup."

"Ms. Walker, you are dismissed." He said bluntly. He then turned to me. "How are you doing? Anything unusual that happened in the past month?"

"N-no, why do you ask?" I responded slowly.

"Well, your parents just recently contacted us and notified us that your birthday is coming up. Your fifteenth, right?"

"Y-yes..." I answered, frightened by the thought that my parents contacted this place.

"Your folks said that on your fifteenth birthday, you will go through drastic changes. And no, it's not puberty again."

"What is it?"

"You will gain many abilities. Those of which include, shape changing, the manipulation of the elements, and durability. Your senses will also be heightened. You will gain a better sense of smell, sight, speed, and agility. Your motor skills will be improved drastically."

"They told you all of this?" I asked warily. "I mean, my parents lied to me all

the time."

"Okay." The doctor paused, sighing. "You need to know the truth. Otherwise you won't believe me."

I looked at him in confusion.

"Max," He said, using my nickname. "I know all of this because I went through all of it."

I cocked my head to the side, even more confused than I already am.

He continued, "I am your brother."

**(Fang POV)**

"Alright, guys. We need to get out of here." I said.

"Can we bring Max?" Angel asked me.

"No."

"But her thoughts are safe," She flashed the bambi eyes at me. "Max can be trusted."

"Ugh." I sighed. "Are you sure?"

"Positive." Angel confirmed, putting the bambi eyes away.

"Fine."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you sooo much!" Angel blurted out quickly, jumping up and hugging my neck.

"The question is... how do we get out of here?" Iggy stated.

"I'm sure if we asked Max, she would come up with something!" Angel said excitedly.

"Yeah. Okay, kid." I replied.

Meanwhile...

** (Max POV)**

I couldn't believe the guy in front of me. I mean, he had black hair like me. Blue green eyes like two of my brothers. The same ethnicity (Asian) as me. And- oh God, he had a birthmark on his neck that I remember my brothers having. I had to keep calm.

"I you are, in fact, my brother, which one are you?"

"Daichi."

"Prove it."

"When you were five, you stole my whole stash of Pocky."

Daichi. My second to oldest brother. My oldest being Dai, Daichi's twin. They always had my back. At least until that fateful day my parents took me here, the school. I had twelve brothers. Takumi, Fumio, Hideaki, Raiden, Goru, Aki, Akira, Hachio, Momoru, Hisoka, Daichi, and Dai. Takumi being the youngest and Dai being the oldest. We are all Japanese.

I finally broke down.

"Daichi!" I screamed, wrapping my arms around his neck and squeezing. I started crying for the first time in almost ten years.

He wrapped his arms around me, "It's okay, it's okay..."

I looked up at him. "I-it's really you..." Tears blurred my vision. "Where are the others?"

"Waiting at a camp more than a hundred miles from here." He replies. "We are here to get you out."

"Can I include some things in our escape?"

"What are they?"

"Come on, I'll show you."

"Here they are!" I said as I opened up the door to the room that we are kept.

Daichi looked at the flock. He squinted. "Are they like you, Imōto?" Daichi said, using the Japanese word for 'little sister.'

"Not exactly. They're mutants."

"Oh..."

"Yo, Max, who's this." Fang asked warily.

"He's my brother, and he's going to get us out!"

"Well, I guess we don't have to ask her now, Fang. You can keep your dignity." Angel said frankly.

I raised my eyebrows at Fang. He simply shrugged.

Daichi chuckled. "You know these... people?"

"Yes they have been my cellmates for, what, a little over two days?"

Angel nodded to confirm my guess.

"Anyway, these guys are going to come with us. I think they can be trusted, but I don't know. But it seems that Angel," I said, pointing to her, "can read minds, so she should know that you can be trusted." Angel blushed.

"Okay," Daichi said slowly, scratching the back of his head. "I think we can add on some people on the escape plan. You see, our eleven other brothers and I have a camp over a hundred miles from here. "

First, I went to work on opening all of their crates. After that, I took a blank sheet of paper and a pen from a file cabinet in the room. Then, I drew out the floor plan for the school. With an escape route in mind, I led the way out of the room. That was when I noticed the security cameras.

"In this hallway alone, there are about seven cameras." I whispered to Daichi, staying out of range of the cameras.

"No problem." He replied confidently.

Daichi held hid hand out, palm facing outward toward the first camera. Right before my eyes, I watched the camera... collapse. The lens crumbled, the body was crushed. Sparks flew from the camera. Then, one by one, Daichi did the same to the other cameras. The flock and I gaped at him.

"What?" He said defensively. "You'll be able to do this in soon, when you come of age."

I paled, which I do not do often.

We continued down the long hallway. For every new hallway we came to, Daichi did the same thing to each security camera.

"Hurry, there isn't much time before the whitecoats notice that the cameras are down." Fang said hurriedly.

Finally, we came to a lobby. Which was filled with whitecoats.

We froze. The whitecoats were paralyzed with shock. They were probably thinking about how kids like us could break out of our dog crates.

In a flash of unspoken agreement, Daichi scooped Iggy up, Fang snatched up Nudge, and I grabbed Gazzy and Angel. We then sped out the big double doors out to fresh air. Behind us, we heard the crashing footsteps of Erasers on our tail. At that precise moment, Daichi, Fang, and I decided to unfurl our wings, and go 'up and away' as the flock says. The Erasers snarled and growled below us.

I laughed.


	3. Chapter 3: Brothers

**Chapter 3: Brothers**

**(Max POV)**

We haven't been flying for long, but exhaustion was already setting in. It could be because I haven't flown for long periods of time, or the fact that I was carrying two mutants in my arms. It could also be that for some reason. I haven't gotten any sleep in the last forty eight hours. Daichi, Fang, and I were carrying the others because we wanted to get away from the school faster.

My eyes drooped. My wings slowed and I dipped suddenly. This caused Angel to squeal and Gazzy to laugh. The sudden noise made Fang snap his head back to look at me. I smiled tiredly. At that moment I swerved unexpectedly. He then proceeded to motion to Daichi to land in the field below us.

"Okay," Fang began. "Max, you are too tired to fly straight. You should not be carrying those two."

"I can carry them!" Nudge volunteered.

"Are you sure?" He prodded.

"Yes, and I-" Fang clamped his hand over her mouth to stop one of her rants.

"Okay, Max. I'm carrying you."

I paled.

"I-I don't-I-I mean-I-I haven't-"

"What? Are you scared?" He cut me off.

"N-no." I paused to steady my voice. "No."

In response, Fang dove toward me, scooped me up, and held me tightly so I wouldn't escape. The rest of the flock and Daichi got ready for takeoff, and we all hurtled into the sky.

**(Fang POV)**

Max was surprisingly light. She weighed less than Nudge! I glanced down at her. She was sleeping soundly.

"Oh, Max." I whispered, amused.

As I stared down at Max, I felt a fierce protectiveness toward her. It surprised me. I only feel that way toward the flock. Maybe she could join-no! We would be parting ways when we get to the camp her brother was talking about.

I maneuvered my arm so I could push the flyaway hairs from her face. "Max," I whispered again. She sighed contentedly and smiled faintly at the sound of her name.

Slowly, I could make out a clearing with a lot of what looks like tents and some dark shapes mulling around in it.

"There it is!" Daichi hollered over the wind.

The dark shapes must be Max's brothers. I think that Daichi said he had, what, eleven other brothers? Anyway, as we circled down, Max's brothers started jumping and waving their hands.

"Imōto-chan koko ni aru!" Daichi yelled to them.

"Hai!" They all yelled back in unison.

As we came to a landing, I noticed that Max's eyes were wide open. Her eyes darted from face to face, surprise, joy, and recognition her dominant expressions. As soon as we hit the ground, Max jumped up and ran over to them with newfound strength. Daichi laughed.

**(Max POV)**

I was surrounded by the people of my childhood. I recognized Dai, identical to Daichi, them both being the buffest guys I know, even more than Ari. Hisoka, my third oldest brother, him being the tallest person I have ever seen. Even taller than Mori (a guy from an anime that I watched as a small kid). Momoru, the quietest of the brothers, but he can fight like no one has ever seen. Hachio, the brains of the twelve siblings. Aki and Akira, the mischievous twins that always pull pranks. Goru, the fifth and golden child. He was my parents' favorite. Raiden and Hideaki, the other set of twins that are polar opposites of each other. Fumio, the seemingly apathetic one. Finally, there was Takumi, the youngest and most hyper brother.

Each one gave me a bone breaking hug, even Momoru, Hideaki, and Fumio. We were all in tears. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the flock smiling at our group hug. There was also a certain sadness in their eyes. I knew why. They wanted a family, too. I felt bad for them, so I motioned them over. Seeing this, Dai broke the large group hug. For the next five minutes, I introduced everybody to the flock.

After that was out of the way, I noticed that Gazzy was staring admiringly at Dai. I chuckled. Looking around their makeshift camp, I noticed that there was one tent for each of us, including the flock.

"How did you know that there would be more escaping?" I asked, confused.

"We consulted a fortune teller." Dai said simply. "Hachio also predicted that you would get attached to some of the mutants trapped there."

"Cool..." I trailed off.

"Do you want some dinner?" Hisoka asked from behind me.

"Sure." I replied as I turned around to meet him. I looked up. "Wow. I can see that you are still the tallest."

Hisoka blushed.

We made our way to the four fire pits, which was cooking one whole deer each. My mouth watered.

"Help yourself." Dai said in his deep voice.

I ran over to the first deer that I could get to, tearing one of its back legs off. I was done with it in two minutes. The bones were licked clean. All the while, everybody was staring at me, mouths on the ground.

"What? They wouldn't give me meat, let alone fresh deer or wild game."

Dai chuckled, walked over, reached down, and ruffled my hair.

The others proceeded to stand there, amazed, but, one by one, they started to migrate toward the remaining deer meat. I continued to chow down on my deer. In a half an hour, the full-sized deer was gone. I ate it all. Everybody gaped at me, but I just shrugged. The flock was all gathered around one deer, and my brothers around the remaining two. Because I was the first to finish, I sat back and looked at the emerging stars. I could faintly remember a time when I was four. After my brothers had snuck some leftover food to me (my so-called parents refused to feed me), we all had walked to the forest bordering our vast property. When we found a clearing, we all just sat out and looked at the stars. In the days that followed, we went to that same clearing every day and built a little cottage. Whenever my parents beat me, I would go to that cottage and my brothers would find me, comfort me, and tend to my wounds. I smiled at our closeness.

I sat up and looked around. It seemed that everyone had retired and went to bed. I sighed. Recognizing the tent I had made out of various wild game skins when I was little, I made my way toward it. The sounds of sleeping filled my ears as I spread out my bedspread and my blankets made of bear pelts. As you have probably already guessed, my brothers and I went hunting a lot. I laid my head on my old pillow, and thought of my brothers. They had done so much for me. A single tear escaped my eye at the thought of being reunited with my long lost brothers. I chuckled. They hadn't changed at all. I also thought of a certain mutant boy. My thoughts stilled.

What will happen now?

The single question startled me. Then I wondered.

What _will _happen?

I pushed the thought to the back of my mind. I would have to find out tomorrow.


	4. Kurokarasu Sibling Information

The Kurokarasu Siblings: Profiles

Makkusu

Full Name: Makkusu Kurokarasu

Age: 15

Gender: Female

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Violet

Additional Notes: Makkusu was given to the

School by her parents at 5 years old. Before that,

her parents frequently abused her. She has

twelve older brothers. Makkusu has also been

traveling with the Flock.

Takumi

Full Name: Takumi Kurokarasu

Age: 16

Gender: Male

Hair Color: White

Eye Color: Blue

Additional Notes: Takumi is the youngest of the

brothers. He is also the most hyper. Takumi is

adored by Dai.

Fumio

Full Name: Fumio Kurokarasu

Age: 17

Gender: Male

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Black

Additional Notes: Fumio is the most apathetic

brother of the bunch. Even though he shows

little emotion, he loves Makkusu very much.

Hideaki

Full Name: Hideaki Kurokarasu

Age: 18

Gender: Male

Hair Color: Blue

Eye Color: Brown

Additional Notes: Hideaki is the younger of the

twins. He is also the more sensitive. Makkusu is

also surprisingly protective over him, despite

their age difference.

Raiden

Full Name: Raiden Kurokarasu

Age: 18

Gender: Male

Hair Color: Red

Eye Color: Brown

Additional Notes: Raiden is the older of the

twins. He is also the more fierce. Raiden is

extremely protective over Hideaki.

Goru

Full Name: Goru Kurokarasu

Age: 19

Gender: Male

Hair Color: Blonde

Eye Color: Blue

Additional Notes: Goru is the golden child of the

siblings. Their parents always liked him best.

Even though this was evident, Makkusu never

hated him.

Aki

Full Name: Aki Kurokarasu

Age: 20

Gender: Male

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Green

Additional Notes: Aki is the younger of the second

oldest pair of twins. He and his brother love playing

pranks on their siblings. They both learned to not

prank Dai or Daichi the hard way.

Akira

Full Name: Akira Kurokarasu

Age: 20

Gender: Male

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Green

Additional Notes: Despite their age, Akira and

Aki are still major pranksters. Their favorite target

is Makkusu, but she usually hangs around Dai or

Daichi, so it's not that big of a problem.

Hachio

Full Name: Hachio Kurokarasu

Age: 21

Gender: Male

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Blue

Additional Notes: Hachio is the smartest 21 year

old you will ever see. He figured out how to find

the School to get Makkusu out.

Momoru

Full Name: Momoru Kurokarasu

Age: 22

Gender: Male

Hair Color: Dark Brown

Eye Color: Black

Additional Notes: Momoru is on the quiet side,

but he can also fight like nobody's business. He

is also one of the more protective brothers

toward Makkusu.

Hisoka

Full Name: Hisoka Kurokarasu

Age: 23

Gender: Male

Hair Color: Reddish-Brown

Eye Color: Hazel

Additional Notes: Hisoka is the tallest person

you will ever see. He surpasses the tall height of

6'5". Like all of his brothers, Hisoka is extremely

protective of Makkusu.

Daichi

Full Name: Daichi Kurokarasu

Age: 24

Gender: Male

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Blue-Green

Additional Notes: Daichi is more scatter-brained

than his twin brother, Dai. He is also a favorite

among the younger members of the Flock.

Dai

Full Name: Dai Kurokarasu

Age: 24

Gender: Male

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Blue-Green

Additional Notes: Dai is more serious than his

twin brother, Daichi. He is arguably the most

protective of Makkusu. He has a lot of pressure

on him since he is the leader of the Kurokarasu

siblings.


	5. Chapter 4: Departure

**Chapter 4: Departure**

**(Max POV)**

For the first time in years, I woke up to the rays of the sun making themselves noticed. I sighed. I could hear faint voices. Takumi's voice was the most prominent, considering how loud he talks when he becomes excited. I could also hear Nudge's voice mixing with Takumi's.

I got up and groaned softly. The voices outside silenced. Wow. They can hear better than I can remember, I thought. I opened the flaps of my handmade tent. Walking down the row of sixteen tents, I noticed that instead of silence coming from the numerous fire pits, there was faint whispering. As I got closer, I realized that there was a certain hierarchy between the flock and my brothers.

Of course, Nudge and Takumi were sitting next to each other. They were the more talkative of the two groups. Hideaki, Raiden, Aki, and Akira were talking to Fang and Iggy. Angel was having a conversation with Dai. Somehow, I didn't find that surprising. The rest of my brothers were drawing something in the dirt and looking at it worriedly. I went over to that group.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"A messenger hawk just left a letter for us." Daichi started nervously. "It was from... mom and dad."

I gasped. "What are we going to do?"

"Your brothers and I are going to stay here to fight their little army and you and the others are going to escape to Alaska."

"Why can't you guys come with us?!" I protested.

"We will be easily seen if there are sixteen of us flying in a group."

I started to protest again, but my logical side shut me up. Daichi was right. He always is.

"Okay." I said shakily. "Where in Alaska do we need to go?"

"In the heart of Alaska, there is a circle of mountains. It could be compared to a cauldron. In the center of those mountains, there is a large encampment. That encampment contains a gift from us."

"What is it?" I asked.

"An army."

I fell silent.

"A-an army?" I finally spit out.

"Yes. There is a prophecy warning us about the humans discovering our...

kind and then going to war with us. Since you are the heir to the Kingdom of

Nariko and our culture is female dominant, you will be leading the kingdom's army."

"What about... Mom and Dad."

"We predict that they will be the ones informing the humans about us."

This fact did not surprise me. I guess that I always expected that kind of thing from them. Dai walked up to me.

"It is time for you to go, Imōto-chan." Dai told me, sadness his dominant expression. "But before you go, I would like to present you and your friends these."

In his hands were six sheathed swords.

I said thanks quietly, taking the swords and passing them out to the flock. Each sheath had our initials on it. Mine read _M.O.K... _Makkusu Ōkami Kurokarasu.

I nodded solemnly. I traded looks with the flock. They all nodded.

"Alright, it looks like we will be taking our leave." I started. "I just wanted to say that I love you guys so much. I know we just got back together, and we will be split apart again, but it is hopefully only for a short while."

Twelve sets of teary eyes stared back at me. I smiled through my own tears. Surprisingly, it was Momoru who pulled me into a tight hug. Next was, even more surprisingly, Fumio. Then there were the two sets of twins, Goru, Daichi, Hisoka, Hachio, and, Takumi. All were crying. Finally, Dai approached me and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. He buried his face in my hair.

"I love you, kiddo." He said into my hair.

"I love you, too."

Dai released me so I could leave. I walked away slowly over to where the flock was waiting for me. I turned around.

"Be careful!" Dai shouted.

"You, too!" I responded.

Then we were off.

**(Fang POV)**

As we continued flying, I noticed that Max wouldn't look up. I looked closer and saw a steady stream of tears trailing from her eyes. I wanted to comfort her somehow, but didn't know how. I then decided to just leave her alone. I didn't know how she would react to sympathy from a near-stranger.

Then she looked up.

Her eyes were no longer a deep violet, but an icy blue. I gasped. I then realized that I had been staring at her and she was giving me a funny look through her tears and long bangs. Quickly, I looked away, blush dusting my cheeks.

I never thought that we would be harboring a princess of sorts. Then I got an idea on how to cheer her up.

"So, Max. You're the heir to the Kingdom of Nariko?"

"Yeah, so what."

"So, you're a _princess._"

"You could say that."

"Okay, Princess Max." I said casually.

_"__Don't call me that." _She spat out, growling, an almost feral gleam in her now red eyes.

_So her eyes are linked to her emotions. How did I miss this before?_

It still didn't shut me up.

"When we find a place to land, would you like a massage, _princess?_"

"Actually, yes." She said, surprising me.

"I-I was kidding Max. You do know that right?"

"Yep, but I just wanted to mess with you. You seem to do a lot of that to me," She said casually. "But two can play at that game."

Now her eyes were a playful but creepy yellow. I shuddered.

"Can we rest for a bit?" I heard Angel ask tiredly.

"Sure." I responded. I looked down at the ground below us and my eyes found a good sized cave surrounded by a thick cluster of trees. I could barely see it, so I was sure that Erasers couldn't find it.

I dived down and the others followed suit. As we came close to the cave, I noticed smoke trailing out of the entrance. The others saw it too. As we came to a quick stop, I could hear max making a sniffing sound.

"_Erasers." _She growled, malice in her voice. There were about twenty Erasers in front of us.

We then proceeded to land in a nearby tree.

Max unsheathed he sword and held it at ready. I started to motion to Max to put her sword away, but she didn't notice. She just proceeded to jump out of our safe place in the tree and attack the Erasers. Even from over here, I could notice that the color of her eyes was the same shade of the blood on her blade.

Her sword strokes were swift, precise, and efficient. I couldn't help but stare.

"What's happening?" I heard Iggy ask.

"Max is cutting the heads off of three Erasers in one stroke. Now she is stabbing one with a really sharp stick on the ground. Ooh. How did she get a gun? It's a fully automatic and she is blowing about a million holes in the remaining Erasers. Ow. How did she get a grenade? And she just blew up the already dead Erasers."

**(Max POV)**

Man, did it feel good to kill those Erasers. My grip around my sword tightened, and I looked down at the familiar black blade. This was my childhood weapon, the only sharp edge I was allowed. My abusive parents had spent hours teaching me how to handle a sword properly. Every time I made a mistake, they made sure I wouldn't do it again and beat me senseless. They only stopped completely when I could defeat Dai in hand-to-hand combat.

Finished, I walked back to Fang casually and hummed to the song "Disasterology" by Pierce the Veil.

The Flock looked at me incredulously.

"What?"

They just continued to stare.

I sighed. "Fighting is my life."

Fang chuckled to himself. "She'll fit right in."


End file.
